


How The Needles Have Turned

by giggling_bubble



Series: Gabriel Agreste, Manchild [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Betrayal, Deceit, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Naturally Defensive, Needles, Nerdy Gabriel, Paranoia, Parent Discretion, Self-Medication, Understanding, Vaccinations, Virology, distraction, fear of needles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 17:28:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12731064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giggling_bubble/pseuds/giggling_bubble
Summary: It appears it is time for Adrien to get his five-year vaccinations. All goes well until the doctor reviews the charts of the entire family and realizes not all the other members are up to date. Turns out, Gabriel is a big phony when it comes to dishing it out and taking it.





	How The Needles Have Turned

**Author's Note:**

> What I hope is a sweet glimpse of Gabriel and Adrien's relationship before Mme. Agreste disappeared.

Mme. Agreste tucked Adrien to her chest and shushed away his fears, “Shhh, baby, you’ll be okay. These are just boosters. You’ll be okay.”

“I don’t want a shot,” he pouted.

Gabriel walked next to them, his hand held firmly behind his back, “This is a part of growing up, Adrien. Are you going to be a big boy for your mother and I today?”

Adrien pushed his lower lip out and it quivered, “It’ll hurt.”

“It’ll only be a pinch,” his mother cooed, “It’ll be over before you know it.”

Gabriel nodded silently. He stood there stiffly with an internal mantra on repeat, ' _I refuse to lie to my child, I refuse to lie to my child...'_

There was a rustling sound of paper from outside of Adrien’s bedroom door. Their family doctor had arrived and it was only a matter of time before Adrien would be getting his vaccinations for school.

Mme. Agreste whispered in Adrien’s ear encouragingly, “You can thank your father that you didn’t have to get the varicella shot.”

Adrien’s head shot up to look at his father, his eyes wide, “I don’t?!”

Gabriel shook his head and his lips tensed.

Adrien turned back to his mom, “I thought you said I needed all my vaccinations to be healthy.”

“More or less,” she nodded, “It is up to the discretion of parents to do what is right for their children. Your father,” she cleared her throat tensely, “Decided it was not in your best interest to be vaccinated for chicken pox.”

“Those will scar!?” Adrien exclaimed while looking up at his father. Out of all the vaccinations, Adrien was getting, he figured one that would prevent the scarring of his skin would be right there at the top of Gabriel’s choices.

Gabriel rocked up on to his toes and his jaw tensed, “I did the research, Adrien, and scars are far less damning than living with a compromised immune system.”

“A comper…what?”

“The ‘long-term’ study they referred to was one conducted in Japan, on only Japanese children, and did not take into account the differences in genetics. That vaccine works well there. As it turns out, with other strains of varicella, there is a much greater chance of secondary shingles infections among certain racial groups; even Asians. They are less likely to cause a secondary infection in those of African descent, however.”

“Am I…African?” Adrien asked quietly.

“NO,” Gabriel exclaimed, “I’m just saying they didn’t do their due diligence as scientists by making sure the vaccine was equally effective in all races due to genetic variance. You _are_ European which does have a rather high rate of secondary infection with herpes zoster.”

Adrien was staring up at his father, gob smacked, while his mother smirked.

“He doesn’t like the vaccination, Adrien because there is a higher chance people like you will get sick with a bad germ.”

“Why didn’t he just say that?” Adrien pouted again.

“Your father…is a _nerd_.” Mme. Agreste grinned up at her grumbling husband, “You are. Don’t deny it.”

He sighed and shook his head. He would never deny it. His wife knew all his secrets; including that time he switched majors from pre-med to fashion design. It was enough to give his mother whiplash, but delighted his fashion king father. The Agreste brand was already well established before he created his own company, Gabriel.

“I will do no such thing,” he sighed, “He won’t be getting that horrible vaccine.”

“No,” Mme. Agreste shook her head, “He won’t.”

The doctor walked in the office, finally, after spending clearly enough time going over their forms. He wore a grimace that he quickly changed to a grin as he walked into the room. The small change was enough to unnerve Gabriel.

“Good afternoon!” He greeted, “I see we have Master Adrien here to get his boosters. Going to school soon?”

“I’m going to homeschool,” his mother nodded, “At least for awhile.”

The doctor looked from one parent to the other, “Vaccinations?”

“We travel a lot,” Gabriel nodded. The timing was also convenient for the vaccination schedule to stay on a schedule.

“We have staggered your vaccinations over the years so he only has two boosters due today,” the doctor nodded, “Is that all right with you?”

“Yes,” they agreed in unison.

“And my records here indicate that you, M. Agreste, are due for a DTaP.”

“DTaP?” he frowned.

“Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis,” the doctor nodded, “The standard is five to ten years and you have been eleven. You are due, sir.”

Gabriel shook his head adamantly, “No. I had one five years ago just before Adrien was born.”

“Honey,” Mme. Agreste caught his wrist and smiled softly, encouragingly, “You opted not to because you’d had one within a safe time period before his birth. Apparently, it has expired.”

“I’m not getting one,” Gabriel exclaimed forcefully.

The doctor heard his booming voice and flinched, “Ma’am?”

Mme. Agreste huffed and set Adrien in her seat, “Excuse me, baby, but mama has to have a discussion with daddy.” She walked swiftly up to Gabriel and hissed, “You will get your vaccination…today!”

His eyes widened, “You can’t be serious!” Then he gulped, “You can’t… _make me_?”

Mme. Agreste disappeared from the room for what felt like twenty seconds and returned with Nathalie.

Gabriel paled, “Oh, no.”

“Sir?” Nathalie glanced at him and his wife, “What is this about?”

“Gabriel is going to need your _moral support_ to get through his vaccination. He has a fear of needles.”

“I do _not_ —“ his voice squeaked embarrassingly. He cleared his throat and tried again, “I do not have a _fear_ of _needles_.”

“You do,” she replied as she gingerly lifted Adrien to deposit him safely back in her lap, “And you will be getting your DTaP today.”

Adrien glanced up to his father, in concern, and then over at Nathalie in confusion.

“It’s okay, honey, daddy just has ugly reflexes. Nat can help.”

“I…I…no…” he whispered half to himself and half to the women around him, much to the visiting doctor’s amusement. The ‘no’ came out more like a plea.

Nathalie watched the exchange and her lips twitched, “Sir, would it make you more comfortable if you were allowed to sit on my lap?”

Gabriel’s head whipped around so fast she could almost hear his neck crack. He didn’t say a word, but the glare he sent her way spoke volumes. He was not amused in the slightest. Although, he was the only one, as Mme. Agreste and Adrien burst into tinkling giggles.

Adrien’s light laughter even brought a slight smile to Gabriel’s face, in spite of Nathalie’s attempt at humor, and he huffed in defeat as he took a seat in a chair across from his wife. He’d have to do this. He’d have to be strong in front of his son. He could do this. He was Gabriel Freaking Agreste and he was _NOT_ afraid of needles. Nope. Not at all. This was a piece of…

The doctor pulled out a syringe.

 _Jesus Christ, that’s a needle!_ An unmanly squeak escaped his lips, but he cleared his throat to cover it. _Smooth._

His stomach immediately dropped into his feet at the look of fear mirrored on his son’s face. Adrien buried his face in his mother’s neck and began to whimper.

Gabriel watched in horror as the doctor descended on his only child with that menacing device of modern medicine. He cringed and inwardly fought the urge to tackle the man to the ground. How dare he advance on his son with that needle! He’s a child!

What made his blood boil next was the doctor began to thump his son in the head.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” he seethed. Gabriel’s knuckles were white as he gripped his chair. What also infuriated him, was his wife was doing nothing about it. She sat there watching as if this was all acceptable. How did he end up married to a sheep who accepted this all so easily. ‘He’s a doctor. He knows what he’s doing.’ That excuse could only get you so far before the absurdity of it all was unearthed.

Gabriel, in his fear, didn’t realize he’d lost complete sense of time.

Adrien was silently sniffling now, his face crumpled and his whimpers broken, as he curled in on himself. Gabriel recognized the posture as a shared sense of betrayal.

_How could I do this to my own son?_

He felt betrayed, too, now that it was his head on the chopping block. It was his turn and he could barely look at his wife. He just wanted to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off of her entirely-too-gorgeous face.

 _How could I have allowed anyone to harm my son like this in my own house? This is an outrage. An utter, disastrous outrage_.

The doctor smiled, in what he thought was disarming, as he advanced on Gabriel with a syringe.

Gabriel reflexively pushed his chair back as his eyes widened.

“Just one stick,” the doctor tried to say soothingly, “It’ll be over before you know it.”

What Gabriel hadn’t noticed was Nathalie slowly approaching at the same pace as the doctor. Before he had a chance to react, Nathalie had grabbed both of his elbows from behind his chair as the doctor reached forward and began…tapping. on. his. forehead. Just like he had done with Adrien.

He bellowed in protest as he fought against Nathalie, “What in the world are you doi—“

“Done!” the doctor smiled as he took a step back. Nathalie immediately released and held her hands up in a defensive posture, as well.

Gabriel glowered at the entire room, except for Adrien, who was still sitting curled up on his mother’s lap trembling. It took less than two seconds for him to cross the room, swoop down, and gather him into his arms. He then swiftly left the room, mumbling, “Come, Adrien. We’re going to go drown our sorrows with snacks in daddy’s office.” Gabriel had a strict ‘no food in the office’ policy. He jerked his gaze back to the individuals in the room to dare them to comment on his blatant disregard. No one said a word.

The rest of the afternoon was spent curled up in fluffy blankets on the floor of his study, eating fruit loops, and watching Justice League cartoons on the television. His wife and Nathalie could handle the company today. He and Adrien had earned the day off.

**Author's Note:**

> I took a graduate level virology class in college and the varicella vaccine was a big controversy. The argument I had Gabriel use was the overall discussion we had...long-term studies must account for genetic variance between ethnicities.  
> *Ex. Asian alcohol flush reaction, sickle-cell anemia, thalassemia, phenyketonuria, tay-sachs, maple syrup urine disease, etc. Humans are very complex and it is amazing, honestly.


End file.
